The U.S. stock market is rising again on Monday, ahead of a week with shortened trading because of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.4% and added to its jump from Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 221 points, or 0.5%, as of 12:30 p.m. ET, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.4% higher.
Stocks got a lift from rising hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in December, a move that could boost the economy and investment prices.
The market also benefited from the strength of stocks caught up in the artificial intelligence frenzy. Alphabet, which has been getting praise for its newest Gemini AI model, rallied 5.2% and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500. Nvidia rose 2.1%.
But Monday’s gains were hesitant, and the S&P 500 rallied to a gain of 1%, only to halve it within the first 15 minutes of trading, before picking up momentum again.
Stocks have been swinging sharply, not just day to day but also hour to hour, in recent weeks as worries weigh about what the Fed will do with interest rates and whether too much money is pouring into AI and creating a bubble. All the uncertainty is creating the biggest test for investors since an April sell-off, when President Donald Trump shocked the world with his “Liberation Day” tariffs.
Still, despite all the recent fear, the S&P 500 remains within 2.8% of its record set last month.
Several more tests lie ahead this week for the market, though none loom quite as large as last week’s profit report from Nvidia or the delayed jobs report from the U.S. government for September.
One of the biggest tests will arrive Tuesday, when the U.S. government will deliver data showing how bad inflation was at the wholesale level in September.
Economists expect it to show a 2.6% rise from a year earlier, the same inflation rate as August. A higher-than-expected reading could deter the Fed from cutting its main interest rate in December for a third time this year, because lower rates can worsen inflation. Some Fed officials have already argued against a December cut in part because inflation has stubbornly remained above their 2% target.
Traders are nevertheless betting on a 77% probability that the Fed will cut rates next month, up from 71% on Friday and from less than a coin flip’s chance a week ago, according to data from CME Group.
U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. A day later, it’s on to the rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
On Wall Street, U.S.-listed shares of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk fell 5.8% Monday after it reported that its Alzheimer’s drug failed to slow progression of the disease in a trial.
Grindr dropped 9.9% after saying it’s breaking off talks with a couple of investors who had offered to buy the company, which helps its gay users connect with each other. A special committee of the company’s board of directors said it had questions about the financing for the deal by the investors, who collectively own more than 60% of Grindr’s stock.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, continued its sharp swings. It was sitting near $87,600, after bouncing between $82,000 and $94,000 over the last week. It was near $125,000 last month.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2% for one of the world’s biggest moves. It got a boost from a 4.7% leap for Alibaba, which has reported strong demand for its updated Qwen AI app. Alibaba is due to report earnings on Tuesday.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.04%, from 4.06% late Friday.
—By Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott, AP business writers